Gripper loom for weaving pile fabrics and method



y 1970 J. T. M cISAAC ET AL 3,521,676

GHIPPER LOOM FOR WEAVING PILE FABRICS AND METHOD l2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Feb. 15, 1968 w m 1 O G o m 0 M m WM m m 5 W 1NVENTOR$ and JOHN T. MACXSAAC} ATTOR N E Y3 July 28-, 1970 MaclSAAC ET AL 3,521,676

GRIPPER LOOM FOR WEAVING PILE FABRICS AND METHOD Filed Feb. 15, 1968 12 Sheets-Sheet 3 w (4 &\\\

E25, 3 3 INVENIURS: a? I l 1 JOHNT. MAcIsAAc and. 823 1. 5 CHAaLEsB.5uMPTEE,J2.

ATTORNEYS July 28, 1970 J. T. M ISAAC ETAL 3,

GRIPPER LOOM FOR WEAVING PILE FABRICS AND METHOD Filed Feb. 15, 1968 12 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS.

and

JOHN T. MAcIsAAc CHARLES E. Su MPTE-R,J 1a.

ATTORNEYS 28, 1970 J T MaolsAAc ET AL 3,521,676

GRIPPER LOOM FOR WEAVING FILE FABRICS AND METHOD Filed Feb. 15, 1968 12 Sheets-Sheet 4 July 28, 1970 J T, MaclsAAc ET AL 3,521,675

GRIPPER LOOM FOR WEAVING FILE FABRICS AND METHOD Filed Feb. 15, 1968 12 Sheets-Sheet 5 7 I I IA1 mvgmms: /'JOHN T. MAclsAAc I and CHARLES B. Sum PTER,-TR.

in N K f 1' 0 BYWKEZZ M131 /wz.

ATTORNEYS July 28, 1970 J. T. M lSAAC ETAL 3,521,576

' GRIPPER LOOM FOR WEAVING PILE FABRICS AND METHOD Filed Feb. 15, 1968 12 Sheets-Sheet 6 July 28, 1970 J. T. M clsAAc ET 3,521,675

GRIPPER LOOM FOR WEAVING PILE FABRICS AND METHOD Filed Feb. 15, 1968 12 Sheets-Sheet 7 INVENTO S .21 9272 JOHNT. MAclsAAc and CHARLES B. SUM we R532.

ATTORNEYS July 28, 1970 J T, MaclsAAc ET AL 3,521,676

GRIPPER LOOM FOR WEAVING FILE FABRICS AND METHOD Filed Feb. 15, 1968 12 Sheets-Sheet a To PATTERN bevmce July 28, 1970 macgs c ETAL GRIPPER LOOM FOR WEAVING FILE FABRICS AND METHOD 12 Sheets-Sheet 9 Filed Feb. 15, 1968 INVENTORS.

T MAcIsAAc am ATTORNEYS July 2 8, 1970 J T, MaclsAAc ETAL 3,521,676

GRIPPER LOOM FOR WEAVING FILE FABRICS AND METHOD Filed Feb. 15, 1968 12 Sheets-Sheet 10 INVENTORSI JOHN T. MACBAAC] and CHARLES E. SUMPTEEJR.

ATTORNEY-S July 28, 1970 J. T. m lsAAc ETAL 3,521,576

GRIPPER LOCM FOR WEAVING FILE FABRICS AND METHOD Filed Feb. 15, 1968 12 Sheets-Sheet ll INVENTORSI I JOHN T. MAQXSAAC and CHARLES B.SUMPTER JE.

ATTORNEYS July 28, 1970 J MaclSAAC ET AL 3,521,676

GRIPPER LOOM FOR WEAVING PILE FABRICS AND METHOD Filed Feb. 15, 1968 12 Sheets-Sheet l3 INVENTORS JOHNT. MAcIsAAc 334 andcnmzuis B. 5UM'PTEE,-IR.

ATTOR NE Y5 United States Patent Ofice 3,521,676 Patented July 28, 1970 GRIPPER LOOM FOR WEAVING PILE FABRICS AND METHOD John T. MacIsaac, Spray, and Charles B. Sumpter, Jr.,

Leaksville, N.C., assignors to Fieldcrest Mills, Inc., Spray, N.C., a corporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 15, 1968, Ser. No. 705,817 Int. Cl. D03d 39/08 U.S. Cl. 139-6 47 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A loom and method of weaving in which selected pile yarns are grasped by oscillating grippers which partially remain in the warp shed and the reed at all times and which .pull the pile yarns from selector guides to a posi tion in front of the reed. Thereafter the pile yarns are cut into respective lengths, beat-up occurs, and then the grippers move the leading ends of the pile yarns back toward the guides while pulling the cut lengths past the beaten up filling and release the pile yarns at a predetermined instant to form each successive weftwise row of U-shaped tufts in the fabric base being woven.

This invention relates to an improved method of and apparatus for weaving pile fabrics and is particularly concerned with improving the construction and efficiency of operation of so-called gripper looms which are characterized by grippers which successively grasp selected pile yarns and position lengths of the pile yarns adjacent the fell of the fabric to be beaten up with weft yarns by the reed.

As is well known, gripper looms and Axminster looms are capable of weaving similar cut pile or tufted fabrics. Generally, one advantage of Axminster looms over gripper looms is that an Axminster loom can accommodate a substantially larger number of different colors of pile yarns than a gripper loom. However, because of the fact that Axminster looms must have a separate spool of pile yarn for each weftwise row of pile tufts to be formed in a particular pattern, gripper looms have several advantages over Axminster looms.

In a gripper loom, for example, the pile yarns may be taken from stationary supplies, thus eliminating the need for winding different combinations of colors and/ or kinds of pile yarns on large numbers of spools or tubes, and the storing of such spools, as a prerequisite to weaving different pile patterns, on an Axminster loom. In a gripper loom there is practically no wastage of pile yarn if a run is short even though a long run may have been expected when the loom was set up. In an Axminster loom, the pile yarn on reserve spools in inventory would be wasted if the run were made shorter than had been expected before starting the run.

Also, generally there is no need to limit the style or size of carpets being woven on a gripper loom to those planned at the time of setting up the loom, since it may be necessary only to change the pattern of the pile yarnselecting device on the gripper loom. In an Axminster loom, however, a style or size change usually requires that an entirely different set of pile yarn-carrying spools be made up to replace the set then on the Axminster loom.

It can thus be appreciated that there are important economic reasons for utilizing a gripper loom in preference to an Axminster loom for weaving carpets and other pile fabrics. Nevertheless, many mills prefer to use Axrninster looms, not because of the greater range of pile yarn colors afforded thereon in particular, but because of mechanical problems which have arisen heretofore in gripper looms. More specifically, in all known types of gripper looms, the pile yarn grippers must move reciprocally in an arcuate path of such length (usually about that the yarn grippers are quite remote from the reed and warp shed when the grip the pile yarns. Thus, in their course to the reed and warp shed, the grippers frequently strike the wires or plates of the reed, instead of properly entering the reed dents, thus damaging the reed and/or the grippers, and/or causing entanglement or breakage of the adjacent ground warps, or misplacement of the pile tufts.

Further, because of the long range of movement of the grippers, they place adjacent parts of the prior art gripper looms under such loads and stresses as to severely limit the speed at which the loom may be operated safely. In order to obtain suflicient production to justify use of the gripper loom while maintaining the speed of the grippers slow enough to avoid serious damage to the loom as a result of the forces imparted to the loom by the reciprocating grippers, it has been customary heretofore to weave only multi-shot pile fabrics on such looms; i.e., there would be at least two shots of weft yarn in the fabric for each weftwise row of pile tufts. In this way, at least two picks of the loom could occur while the grippers were moving through a single cycle or reciprocation. The speed of a conventional gripper loom is further limited owing to the fact that, after the grippers have gripped the pile yarns adjacent the pile yarn guides or selectors, the grippers move only a relatively short distance away from such guides or selectors and are then arrested and must dwell for a sufficient length of time for the pile yarns to be severed adjacent the guides or selectors, whereupon the movement of the grippers to the reed is resumed.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved loom and method for weaving pile fabric in which pile yarn grippers are employed and are so operated as to overcome many of the problems inherent in prior types of gripper looms, and to permit a substantially higher rate of production thereon than has been attainable on prior types of gripper looms.

It is another object of this invention to provide an improved gripper loom whose grippers are partially positioned within the reed dents at all times while they are repeatedly grasping and pulling pile yarns from carriers or pile yarn selector guides, positioning them in front of the reed, and projecting them outwardly from the outer face of the fabric, thus ensuring that the grippers are always properly aligned with respect to the reed and the ground warp shed during operation of the loom.

Another object of the invention is to provide a gripper loom of the type last described in which the weaving instrumentalities, including the reed and the weft inserting means, and the grippers and selector guides are so arranged that the fabric extends from adjacent its fell in a substantially vertically direction so that it is readily accessible to the operator even though the reed and the pile yarn selector guides are very close to each other.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an improved method and apparatus for weaving pile fabric in which pile tufts are formed projecting from one face of a fabric base being woven by utilizing grippers for grasping and pulling selected pile yarns from a source inwardly toward the said one face of the base and into the path of a beating means or reed and forwardly thereof, and then severing the pile yarns at a first point spaced outwardly from their grasped leading end portions while such leading end portions are positioned in the path of the reed so as to form pile yarn sections of predetermined length having free trailing ends. Thereafter, weft yarn is beaten up against the pile yarn sections and against the fell of previously woven fabric, and the grasped leading end portions are then moved rearwardly or outwardly of the base relative to the corresponding weft yarn and toward the first point and then released at a second point spaced from the first point to form a weftwise row of substantially U-shaped tufts of predetermined height projecting outwardly from the fabric base. The extent to which the grasped leading end portions are moved rearwardly before being released determines the length of each leg of each U-shaped tuft; i.e., both legs may be of the same length or one leg may be shorter than the other. It follows therefore, that the term U-shaped tuft is used to include so-called J tufts.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view showing the preferred arrangement of the pile yarn grippers, the reed, the pile yarn selector guides and adjacent parts of a gripper loom according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the area indicated at 2 in FIG. 1 and particularly illustrating the path of a tuck wire or tuft diverter which diverts previously formed tufts out of the path of pile yarn lengths being inserted in the fabric;

FIGS. 3, 4, 5 and 6 are views similar to FIG. 1 illustrating successive stages in the operation of the reed, the pile yarn grippers and associated parts incident to a tuft-forming cycle thereof;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view of a portion of one form of pile fabric which may be woven on the loom of the instant invention;

FIG. 8 is a graph chart illustrating the preferred timed relationship of certain loom components during a tuftforming cycle;

FIG. 9 is a left-hand side elevation of the gripper loom;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged perspective view of the lower central portion of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged front elevation of the loom, partially in section, taken looking substantially along line 11-11 in FIG. 9 and including a schematic illustration of a pattern device thereabove with the central portion of the loom broken away;

FIG. 12 is a rear elevation of the loorn looking in the direction of the arrow 12 in FIG. 9 with the central portion of the loom broken away;

FIG. 13 is an enlarged longitudinal vertical sectional view taken substantially along line 13-13 in FIG. 11, with parts omitted and particularly illustrating the means for operating the reed and heddles;

FIG. 14 is a fragmentary perspective view of the reed operating mechanism of FIG. 13 and the fabric take-up and fell shifting mechanism shown in the upper central portion of FIG. 9;

FIG. 15 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating mechanism for vertically moving the pile yarn cutting device into and out of operative position;

FIG. 16 is a fragmentary perspective view showing further details of the fell shifting mechanism of FIGS. 9 and 14;

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of mechanism for imparting weftwise motion to the blades of the cutting device in conjunction with the mechanism of FIG. 15;

FIG. 18 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating additional details of the heddle operating mechanism shown in the lower central portion of FIG. 13;

FIG. 19 is a fragmentary perspective view of mechanism for opearting the tuft diverting tuck wire shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 20 is a fragmentary perspective view of mechanism for oscillating the pile yarn grippers;

FIG. 21 is a fragmentary view of the pile yarn grippers similar to the central portion of FIG. 13 and showing mechanism for opening and closing the grippers; and

FIG. 22 is a fragmentary perspective view of the cutting device.

CONTENTS OF DETAILED DESCRIPTION Chapter:

I Synopsis of the invention.

II Method of operation.

III Reed motion.

IV Pile yarn selectors.

V Heddle motion, warp let-off and fabric take-up.

VI Tuft diverter or tuck wire.

VII Gripper supporting and operating mechanism.

VIII Cutting device.

IX Conclusion.

(I) SYNOPSIS OF THE INVENTION Referring more specifically to the drawings; especially FIGS. 16, the novel gripper loom for carrying out the method of the instant invention essentially comprises an oscillatable heating means or reed 24, a stationary serrated nose bar 25, a weft-inserting means or needle 26 and a shed forming means or heddles 27 (FIGS. 13 and 18) which are operated in a substantially conventional manner by means peculiar to the present invention for weaving a base 30 of a pile fabric broadly designated at 31, but which reed 24, bar 25, needle 26 and heddles 27 are so positioned that the fabric proceeds from the fell and nose bar 25 in a generally vertical direction (upwardly in this instance). Also, reed 24, nose bar 25, weft needle 26 and heddles 27 are especially arranged to cooperate with a weftwise row of closely spaced pile yarn grippers 35 (FIGS. 1, 3-6, 13 20 and 21), a Weftwise row of vertically arranged, pattern controlled pile yarn selectors 36, a pile yarn cutting or severing device 37, and a tuft diverter or tuck wire 38, all of which cooperate in forming predetermined pile yarn lengths from selected pile yarns P and inserting the same in the base fabric 30 in the form of substantially U-shaped pile tufts T. The grippers 35 oscillate collectively to and from yarn-engaging position with respect to selectors. Each forward stroke (left-to-right in FIGS. 1 and 36) of grippers 35 may be termed as a pile withdrawing and inserting stroke, and each backward stroke may be termed as a return stroke.

The reed 24, nose bar 25, weft needle 26, heddles 27, grippers 35 and selectors 36 heretofore described are each generally well known in the art and may be conventional. However, they are arranged, mounted and operated in a novel manner so that (a) the grippers 35 are partially positioned in the reed dents and the warp shed at all times during operation of the loom so as to ensure proper indexing relation therebetween, (b) the leading end portion of each pile yarn is held by the grippers 35 and positioned in the path of and fonwardly (upwardly) of reed 24 while the severing of pile yarn sections of predetermined length from the pile yarns P is taking place, (c) each stroke of the grippers need be no greater than the cut lengths. or sections of pile yarn of which the tufts are to be formed, and (d) the motions of the grippers are therefore quite small so as to permit relatively high speed operation of the loom as compared to the permissible speed of operation of conventional gripper looms.

It should be noted that, for purposes of description only, the loom will be described as though the righthand side of the loom in FIG. 9 is the front end of the loom with the ground warps G entering the front end of the loom and the pile yarns P entering the rear end of the loom. In FIGS. 1, 36 and 13, for example, reed 24 and grippers 35 are located forwardly of selectors 36 and cutting device 37. However, insofar as the relationship of the reed 24 and nose bar 25 is concerned, each beat-up stroke of reed 24 may be considered as a forward stroke with respect to nose bar and the fell of the fabric 31, although as shown, reed 24 moves upwardly and rearwardly in an angular path with respect to the level of the mill floor F during each beat-up stroke thereof.

The parts described thus far include essential parts involved in Weaving the pile fabric according to the instant invention, although the operating mechanism associated with such essential parts, along with a fell shifting means and other structures, will be described more in detail later in this context. Accordingly, a brief description of the method of operation of the aforementioned essential parts will now be given so the succeeding more detailed description may be better understood.

(II) METHOD OF OPERATION At the start of each three-hundred-sixty degree pile tuft-forming cycle (0 in FIG. 8), it may be assumed that the fell of the previously woven pile fabric 31 occupies the abnormally forward (upward) position with respect to the beat-up line B of reed 24, as shown in FIG. 6. The pile yarn selectors 36 are so spaced from the outer or rear face of nose bar 25 (generally forwardly and outwardly with respect to the motion of reed 24) that the leading ends of the selected pile yarns P in a particular weftwise row are then spaced outwardly from the point at which the beat-up line B intersects with the outer face of nose bar 25 a distance about equal to or slightly greater than the desired length of pile yarn sections of which the tufts T are tobe formed in fabric base Also, it may be assumed that the pivotally interconnected fixed and movable jaws a, 35b of grippers 35 are about to occupy the open position of FIG. 6 to release the leading ends of the tufts of a previously formed row and are in the course of a reanward or return stroke toward selectors 36 as shown in FIG. 5. The sequence of operation then may be substantially as follows:

(1) Reed 24 is moving backward (downwardly) away from the fell of fabric 31 as grippers 35 open and continue a return stroke until the free ends of jaws 35a, 35b straddle the leading ends of the corresponding pile yarns P as shown in FIG. 6. The tuck wire 38, which moves in a somewhat rectilinear path (FIG. 2), occupies substantially full upward position relative to reed 24 and is moving outwardly from between the adjacent legs of the previously formed last two rows of tufts as the fabric is moving upwardly.

(2) At about the time that reed 24 reaches full back (lowermost) position, grippers 35 are closed to grip leading end portions of corresponding pile yarns between the jaws 35a, 35b, as shown in FIG. 1. While the jaws 35a, 35b are closing on the pile yarns, the fell of fabric 31 is still in the course of upward movement and the tuck wire 38 moves downwardly substantially to its lowermost and outermost position with respect to nose bar 25, as shown in FIG. 1 and also as shown in the lower righthand portion of FIG. 2. In so doing, tuck wire 38 bends the last formed row of tufts and moves downwardly past the same.

(3) Grippers 35 then move forwardly in a pile-inserting stroke (away from selectors 36) and pull the corresponding pile yarns P through selectors 36 while positioning the leading end portions of the pile yarns adjacent beat-up line B and in the path of reed 24. During the pile-inserting stroke of grippers 35, the fell of the fabric 31 moves downwardly toward and then slightly below the beat-up line B, as shown in FIG. 3, while tuck wire 38 is also moving inwardly toward the outer face of nose bar 25 so as to engage and bend upwardly the row of tufts last previously formed and thereby to ensure that such last previously formed tufts will not project into the path of and interfere with the operation of the grippers 35 and the portions of the pile yarns then being pulled through selectors 36.

(4) Ground 'warp yarns G, which extend through heddles 27, will have then started moving to the closed shed position of FIG. 4 from the open shed position of FIG". 1, but since the shed is still substantially open and the grippers 35 are positioned out of the path of weft needle 26, weft needle 26 moves into and then out of the ground warp shed and inserts a shot or double length of lweft yarn W (FIG. 7) in the shed below the free ends of grippers 35 and forwardly of reed 24.

(5) During insertion of w eft yarn in the ground warp shed by needle 26, and while the leading end portions of the pile yarns are still being gripped by the corresponding grippers 35, cutting device 37, which is positioned in close proximity to or against the front surfaces of selectors 36, is rendered operable to sever the pile yarns in that row then occupying selected position, thus forming cut sections of pile yarn of predetermined length.

(6) Reed 24 then moves upwardly and generally toward selectors 36 (FIG. 4) during which the trailing end of the fabric also moves upwardly in the same direction to position the fell thereof substantially at the normal beat-up line B at about the time that the reed reaches full beat-up position. As the fabric moves upwardly, tuck wire 38 also moves upwardly to continue its function of maintaining the previously formed row of pile tufts out of the way of the row of pile tufts now being formed. Also, as the reed moves to full beat-up position it will be noted (FIG. 4) that the free ends of grippers 35 occupy positions slightly outwardly or rewardly of the plane of the outer face of nose bar 25. Thus, the free end portions or noses of grippers 35 occupy positions between adjacent ground warps G as the corresponding weft yarn is slid against and over the ends of the grippers 35 in the course of movement of reed 24 to the full beat-up position.

(7) As best shown in FIG. 4, the free ends of grippers 35, when fully retracted (at the end of a pile inserting stroke) are positioned a predetermined distance downwardly from the beat-up line B of reed 24. Thus, as the weft yarn slides over the free ends of grippers 35, it engages and slides against the cut lengths of pile yarn, thus drawing the free trailing ends of the cut lengths of pile yarn away from selectors 36 as the weft yarn finally is beaten up against medial portions of the cut sections of pile yarn to substantially bind the pile tufts being formed into the fabric base 30. The lip 25a (FIG. 2) on the lower portion of nose bar 25 prevents the weft yarn from slipping off nose bar 25 as the weft yarn slides over grippers 35.

(8) Crossing of the ground warps G in the course of a shed change is completed substantially as reed 24 reaches full beat-up position, whereupon reed 24 starts to move backward (downwardly) and grippers 35 start to move rearwardly in a return stroke. Also, cutting device 37 is retracted or lowered out of the path of travel of the free ends of grippers 35, and the fell of fabric 31 may remain stationary momentarily.

(9) During each return or rearward stroke of grippers 35, at about the time that their free ends reach a position in which the two legs of each tuft in the corresponding row being formed are of the same length, and during which the lower legs of the tufts being formed are moved outwardly toward the selectors 36 and thus caused to assume substantially U-shaped form, the movable jaws 35b are moved away from the upper or fixed jaws 35a (FIG. 5), thus releasing the corresponding cut lengths of pile yarn to complete the formation of the corresponding row of tufts T. Also, fabric 31 then commences moving upwardly to again ultimately shift the fell sufliciently upwardly to ensure that the corresponding row of tufts is free of the grippers and also to ensure that the last formed row of tufts is sufficiently elevated so the tuck wire 38 will move downwardly below the level of the lower legs of the last formed tufts during the next succeeding tuftforming cycle.

It should be noted that in step (9), the instant at which the grippers release the pile yarn sections during each return stroke of the grippers controls the height of the tufts T above the base 3i) and controls the configuration of the tufts. For example, if the pile yarn sections are released at a point about midway of a return stroke of the grippers, both legs of each tuft would be about the same length and the height of the tufts would be slightly less than one-half the length of each pile yarn section (allowing for the size Weft yarn being used). On the other hand, if the pile yarn sections are released ahead of or rearwardly of the midway point, it is apparent that one leg of each tuft would be longer than the other leg and the tuft height would be correspondingly greater at the longer legs of the tufts. Although a small amount of each pile yarn section is, in effect, moved about the weft yarn during beat-up, the actual relative lengths of the two legs of each tuft are determined by the distance the grippers return before they release the pile yarn end portions.

This completes the sequence of operations of the various elements involved in forming a weftwise row of tufts in the fabric 31. In forming a single-shot pile fabric such as is shown in FIG. 7, it is apparent that the foregoing series of operations are repeated in immediate succession. The weft yarns may be inserted by means of a shuttle, weft carrying projectiles or any suitable means. Since the loom disclosed herein has a reciprocating needle however for inserting the weft yarns, each shot of weft has two strands, as shown in FIG. 7.

Reference is made to Clarks U.S. Pats. Nos. 2,578,173 and 2,437,378 dated Dec. 11, 1951 and Mar. 9, 1948, respectively, for respective disclosures of two-shot and threeshot pile fabrics. Such multi-shot fabrics also may be woven on the loom disclosed herein by simple modifica tions therein as will be later described.

If a multi-shot pile fabric is to be woven, it is apparent that the grippers 35 may dwell in the intermediate position shown in FIG. or may be returned to the backward position in which they are shown in FIG. 3 during the intervals of operation of the loom in which any shots of weft yarn are to be inserted in the shed and beaten up by reed 24 without concurrent formation of tufts. During the beat-up of each shot of weft yarn in which no tufts are to be formed, the fell of fabric 31 may or may not be shifted, as desired, and the cutting device 37 and tuck wire 38 may or may not be operated in the manner heretofore described, as desired, since the shifting of the fell of the fabric and operation of the cutting device 37 and tuck wire 38 will neither aid nor interfere with the weaving operation while no tufts are being formed. The heddles 27 are controlled differently for weaving different types of fabric, as is well known.

A more detailed description of the mechanism for operating the essential components in the manner heretofore described, and other structures, will now be given.

(III) REED MOTION Referring to FIGS. 9-13, the 100m frame is broadly designated at 47 and comprises spaced upright sideframe members 45, 46 in whose rear lower portions a main drive shaft 50 and a main cam shaft 51 are rotatably mounted. Main drive shaft '50 may be driven to rotate a complete revolution during each pick of the loom by means of an electric motor or other suitable motive means indicated schematically at 52 in the lower left-hand portion of FIG. 12. Shaft 50 may be connected to a suitable means, not shown, for reciprocating weft needle 26 in timed relation to oscillation of reed 24. The needle reciprocating means may be of the. type disclosed in Brannocks US. Pat. No. 3,890,725, dated June 16, 1959, for example, to which reference is made for a further disclosure.

A gear 53 on drive shaft 56 meshes with a larger gear 54 on cam shaft 51, thus driving cam shaft 51 to rotate one-half a revolution for each pick or each revolution of main drive shaft 50. To impart one oscillation to reed 24 during each pick of the loom, there will be observed in FIGS. 12, 13 and 14 a reed cam 56 fixed on drive shaft 50 and engaged by a follower 57 on the lower portion of a lever 60. A medial portion of lever 60 is pivotally mounted, as at 61, on sideframe member 45. The upper end of lever 60 is connected, by a link 62, to one end of a crank 63. Crank 63 extends downwardly and is fixed on a reed rocker shaft 64 outwardly from or above one side of the path of the ground warps G. Shaft 64 has a pair of spaced reed arms 65 secured thereto and extending downwardly and rearwardly therefrom. A lay or beam 66 is suitably secured to arms 65 (FIGS. 1, 13 and 14), and reed 24 is suitably secured to beam 66.

The reed operating mechanism just described is designed so that the operating face of reed 24 preferably may extend at an angle of about SO -60 relative to a horizontal line to accommodate the grippers 35 in an upstanding position and so that the fabric 31 may proceed from nose bar 25 in a substantially vertical direction. The outer face of nose bar 25 may extend substantially perpendicular to the upper face of reed 24. As shown, the rear or outer face of nose bar 25 extends upwardly and rearwardly at an angle of about 60 with respect to a horizontal line. The upper portion of nose bar 25 is suitably secured to a support bar or breast beam 70 (FIGS. 1, 36, 13 and 16), which extends across the loom and is suitably supported by sideframe members 45, 46, and whose rear face adjacent selectors 36 extends in a substantially vertical plane.

(1V) PILE YARN SELECTORS As heretofore stated, the pile yarn selectors 36 are spaced outwardly or rearwardly from the rear face of nose bar 25 in accordance with the cut lengths of pile yarn employed in forming tufts T. It will be observed in :FIGS. 1 and 3-6 that the front surfaces of the pile yarn selectors 36 are spaced from the rear vertical surface of breast beam 70 a distance about the same as or slightly greater than the thickness of the pile fabric 31, including its base 30 and tufts T.

Although selectors 3'6 occupy the substantially vertical position shown in FIGS. 1 and 36 at all times during normal operation of the loom, they are mounted for pattern controlled individual vertical sliding movement in a swinging frame 73 (FIGS. 11, 12 and 13) whose upper portion is pivotally suspended from a pair of aligned upper transverse shafts 74 adjustably supported by loom sideframe members 45, 46. Thus, selectors 36 may be spaced precisely the desired distance from nose bar 25 in accordance with the desired cut lengths of pile yarn to be employed in the formation of the tufts T, and they may be swung out of the way of an operator when necessary.

Accordingly, distal ends of shafts 74 are each carried by a block 75 (FIGS. 11l3) mounted for substantially vertical sliding movement in a corresponding bracket 76. Each bracket 76 is provided with upper and lower adjustment screws 77, 78 whose proximal ends engage the corresponding block 75 to maintain the shaft 74 in the desired vertically adjusted position. Each bracket 76 also has a dovetailed connection with a horizontally disposed guide member 81 so the corresponding bracket 76 may be adjusted forwardly and rearwardly to effect corresponding adjustment of the selectors 36. Guide members 81 are suitably secured to the sideframe members 45, 46, and each bracket 76 is secured in adjusted position by means of a pair of set screws 82 (FIG. 13).

The pile yarn cutting device 37 normally occupies a lowered inactive position below the free ends of grippers 35, but is vertically movable so as to engage and sever or cut the pile yarns P adjacent the selectors 36 when the grippers 35 occupy forward or retracted position with respect to selectors 36. The cutting device 37 comprises a fixed member 85 and a movable member 86, the latter being movable in the weftwise direction relative to fixed member 85. Since the cutting of the pile yarns should be effected as close as possible to the front surfaces of selectors 36, lower medial portions of the front surfaces of selectors 36, may bear against and in sliding engagement with the rear surface of the fixed cutter member 85 and are held in adjusted position with respect to fixed member 85 by suitable brackets 87 (FIG. 13) adjustably secured to plates 88. projecting inwardly from sideframe members 45, 46.

Each selector 36 is in the form of a thin slider having a plurality of vertically spaced yarn guide passages 92 therethrough through each of which a corresponding pile yarn P extends. Each pile yarn passes beneath and is controlled by a respective spring 93 in the usual manner. As shown each selector 36 is arranged to accommodate twelve pile yarns P which may be taken from a suitable source indicated schematically as a creel 94 in FIGS. 9 and 13. The pile yarns P extending through each selector 36 may differ as to type and/or color with respect to each other, and any desired number of pile yarns (up to twenty or more) may extend through each individual selector 36. As shown, twelve pile yarns extend through each selector 36.

The various pile yarn passages 92 of each selector 36 may be selectively positioned in active position with respect to grippers 35 by means of a suitable pattern device 95, preferably of the jacquard type, shown above the sideframe members 45, 46 of the loom in FIGS. 11 and 13. Separate cords 95a extend downwardly from pattern device 95 for raising and lowering the respective sliders or selectors 36. Pattern device 95 may be driven by suitable connections with main shaft '50. As shown, a sprocket chain 96 and sprockets 97, 98 (FIGS. 11 and 12) connect shaft 50 to pattern device 95.

Since selectors 3 6 may be conventional per se and may be individually controlled by a conventional jacquard or other pattern device, a further detailed description thereof is deemed unnecessary. Although selector frame 73 occupies a stationary position during operation of the loom, the frame 73 is pivotally suspended so that, by loosening the bolts associated with brackets 87 (FIG. 13), the frame 73 and the selectors 36 may be swung bodily rearwardly and upwardly out of the way of an operator so that the elements of the loom in the vicinity of the reed 24 may be readily accessible. After any corrective work has been accomplished, it is apparent that frame 73 and selectors 3 6 may be returned to their normal operating position and secured in place by the brackets 87.

(V) HEDDLE MOTION, WARP LET-OFF AND FABRIC TA-KE-UP Ground warps G may be taken from any suitable source of supply. As shown in FIG. 9, ground warps G are taken from a pair of warp beams 100, 101 equipped with suitable warp tensioning devices 102, 103 of conventional or other type. Since warp tensioning devices are well known, a detailed description thereof is deemed unnecessary. Warp beams 100, 101 are suitably mounted on upstanding beam supports 105 spaced forwardly of loom sideframe members 45, 46. An operators platform 107, spaced a substantial distance above the mill floor, may be provided between the loom sideframe members 45, 46 and the upstanding beam supports 105.

The two sheets of ground warps G from the beams 100, 101 may extend rearwardly beneath platform 107 where they are engaged by and pass upwardly from respective dancing rolls or whip rolls 110, 111 resting upon the respective sheets of ground warps G. As best shown in FIG. 13, dancing rolls 110, 111, which need not necessarily rotate, are carried by arms 112, 113 which extend forwardly and are connected to respective rocker 10 shafts 114, 115 suitably supported for oscillation by sideframe members 45, 46 (see FIGS. 9, 10, 11 and 13).

As ground warps G extend upwardly from dancing rolls 110, 111, they are joined together as a single sheet of ground warps and pass over a warp shifting or fell shifting guide roll suitably supported for oscillation on a fixed axis by sideframe members 45, 46. Arms 121 depending from guide roll 120 have a warp or fell shifting bar 122 connected thereto which bears against the ground warps at a point between the upper dancing roll 110 and guide roll 120.

From guide roll 120, ground warps G extend upwardly and rearwardly at an angle and the two sheets preferably pass through separate heddles 27 and are thereby formed into warp sheds as they extend forwardly through reed 24 and to the fell of fabric 31. Heddles 27 may be operated by any suitable or conventional means, although they extend at an angle of about 50-60 with respect to a horizontal line, so the ground warps extend substantially perpendicular to the beat-up face of reed 24 at about the time of crossing of the ground warps during each shed change.

As shown in FIGS. 1'1, 13 and 18, heddles 27 are mounted in substantially rectangular heddle frames 125, 126 guided for linear sliding movement in a pair of spaced channel members 127 carried by and projecting inwardly from the respective sideframe members 45, 46 (FIGS. 11 and 13). Although only two heddle frames or groups of heddles are shown, additional heddle frames or groups of heddles may be employed, as may be required in weaving multi-shot pile fabrics. Linkages 130, 131 connect the lower opposite end portions of the respective harness frames 125, 126 to respective opposite ends of a corresponding rocker lever 132 (FIGS. 10, 12 and 16), there being two such rocker levers 132 shown in FIGS. 11 and 12.

As best shown in the lower portion of FIG. 12, rocker levers 132 are fixed on a heddle rocker shaft 133 journaled in suitable bearings 134 fixed to the floor F. One end of rocker shaft 133 extends through sideframe member 46 and has a crank 135 fixed thereon (FIGS. 9, 10 and 18). As best shown in FIG. 18, a link 136 extends upwardly from and connects crank 135 to one end of a follower lever 137 whose other end is pivotally mounted on an outboard pivot shaft 140 suitably journaled on sideframe member 46 and on a post 141. A medial portion of lever 137 has a follower 137a (FIG. 18) thereon which engages a harness or heddle cam 142 fixed on cam shaft 51. Since cam shaft 51 rotates one revolution during every two picks of the loom, it is apparent that rocker shaft 133 is oscillated in one direction during alternate picks of the loom and is oscillated in the opposite direction during intervening picks of the loom, thus effecting such motion to the heddles 27 as to effect a shed change during each pick or certain picks of the loom.

As best shown in FIG. 13, the woven pile fabric 31 extends upwardly from breast beam 70 in a substantially vertical attitude and passes partially around a friction take-up roll shown in the form of a spiked roll in FIG. 13, as is preferred. From take-up roll 150, fabric 31 extends forwardly beneath a first idler roll 151, over suitable supports 152, 153, beneath another support 154 and then over an additional idler roll 155 (FIG. 9). Take-up roll 150 is suitably journaled on the upper portions of loom sideframe members 45, 46, and the idler rolls 151, 155 are journaled on a pair of overhead frame members 156 connected to and extending forwardly from the uppermost front portions of sideframe members 45, 46. Support bars 152, 153, 154 also extend across and are suitably supported upon overhead frame members 156. The foremost ends of frame members 156 are supported on standards 157 which may rest upon the floor 1 1 F and in which opposite ends of a cloth roll 160 are rotatably supported.

The fabric extends downwardly from idler roll 155 and may be wrapped around the cloth roll 160 either manually or by mechanical means, not shown, interconnecting roll 160 with a driven part of the loom. For example, a ratchet-operated friction drive means may be connected to cloth roll 160 to impart stepwise rotation thereto whenever the fabric is sufficiently slack, but when the fabric is taut, the ratchet-operated friction drive will simply rotate relative to cloth roll 160. Such a ratchetoperated friction drive could be connected to and driven by any one of the driven shafts of the loom and, since such friction drives are well known, an illustration and description thereof will not be given herein.

Take-up roll 150 is driven by a main take-up mechanism 165 and an auxiliary or overriding fabric shifting mechanism 166, both mechanisms being shown in the form of ratchet mechanisms in FIGS. 9, 11, 12, 14 and 16. The main ratchet mechanism 165 serves to take up the fabric the equivalent of one pick or shot of weft yarn during each beat-up of reed 24; i.e., during each pick of the loom, and the auxiliary ratchet mechanism 166 operates in conjunction with main ratchet mechanism 165 to momentarily advance the fabric 31 over take-up roll 150 as much as /2 inch or more and then to release take-up roll 150 so the warp shifting bar 122 of FIGS. 10, 11, 13 and 16 may pull the ground warps G and the fabric 31 downwardly in FIG. 13 so that the fell of the fabric may occupy a position at or slightly below the beat-up line B (FIGS. 1 and 36) of reed 24, as heretofore described.

Since reed rocker shaft 64 completes one oscillation for each pick of the loom, it may be best observed in FIG. 14 that main ratchet mechanism 165 is driven from reed rocker shaft 64. As shown, the ratchet wheel 167 of main ratchet mechanism 165 is fixed on a jack shaft 170 suitably journaled on the upper portion of sideframe member 46 and having a pinion 171 fixed thereon which engages a main take-up gear 172 loosely mounted on one reduced end of take-up roll 150. Ratchet wheel 167 is engaged by a spring-loaded hold-back pawl 174 and a spring-loaded drive pawl 175 pivotally mounted on a pawl-carrying arm 176 pivotally mounted on shaft 170. Suitable linkage generally designated at 177 connects pawlcarrying arm 176 to a crank 180 (FIGS. 11 and 14) fixed on the corresponding end portion of reed rocker shaft 64. It is apparent that a step in rotary movement of take-up gear 172, in a clockwise direction in FIG. 14, thus occurs during each beat-up stroke of reed 24.

Auxiliary ratchet mechanism 166 also comprises a ratchet wheel 183 fixed on the corresponding reduced end portion of take-up roll 150 and which is engaged by one or more spring-loaded ratchet pawls 184, there-being three such ratchet pawls shown in FIG. 16. Pawls 184 are pivotally mounted on a pawl-carrying arm 185 pivotally mounted on roll 150 adjacent ratchet wheel 183 and to which the upper end of a link 186 is pivotally connected (FIGS. 9 and 16).

The lower end of link 186 is pivotally connected to the front end portion of a crank 190 (FIGS. and 16) Whose rear end portion is fixed on a relatively short shaft 191 journaled in bearings 192 suitably secured to an outrigger portion of frame 47. A medial portion of a follower arm 193 also is secured on shaft 191, and the rear end portion of follower arm 193 has a follower 194 thereon which engages a rotary fell shifting cam 195 fixed on cam shaft 51. It will be observed in FIG. 16 that fell shifting cam 195 is of symmetrical form, since cam shaft 51 rotates one-half a revolution during each pick of the loom, and the fell of the fabric 31 is shifted away from and toward the beat-up line B of reed 24 during each tuftforming cycle or pick of the loom.

Since ratchet wheel 183 must be advanced progressively in normal increments to, in turn, take up the fabric 31 in normal increments during each pick of the loom, even though the auxiliary ratchet mechanism 166 momentarily advances the fabric a considerable distance during at least each tuft-forming cycle, take-up gear 172 (FIG. 14) is loose on the corresponding reduced end of take-up roll 150, but is provided with an arcuate slot 196 therethrough which is spaced from and generated about the axis of gear 172. Slot 196 is loosely penetrated by a stub shaft or pin 197 fixed to ratchet wheel 183 and projecting outwardly therefrom parallel to the axis of take-up roll 150.

Thus, each time either of the two diametrically opposed high surfaces of fell shifting cam 195 (FIGS. 10 and 16) moves into engagement with follower 194, upward movement is imparted to link 186, arm 185 and pawls 184 to impart angular movement to ratchet Wheel 183 and take-up roll in a clockwise direction (fabric taking-up direction) in FIGS. 14 and 16. However, since pin 197 may then move in a clockwise direction in FIG. 14 in the slot 196 and relative to take-up gear 172, it follows that ratchet wheel 183 then does not impart clockwise rotation to take-up gear 172 during the corresponding pick of the loom even though it imparts abnormal rotation to roll 150. However, the main ratchet mechanism does impart a normal increment of rotation to take-up gear 172 during the abnormal rotation of takeup roll 150 occurring with each pick of the loom. Thus, when reverse rotation is imparted subsequently to roll 150 and ratchet wheel 183, the trailing end of slot 196 causes roll 150 to come to rest in a different position than it occupied before ratchet wheel 183 was last driven forwardly.

The ground warps G are moved upwardly and downwardly through reed 24 and heddles 27 during each abnormal forward and reverse motion of take-up roll 150. As best shown in FIGS. 10 and 16, a crank 200 fixed on shaft 120 is connected to the front end of follower arm 193 by a link 201 so that, as ratchet pawls 184 move downwardly in an inactive stroke, warp or fell shifting bar 122 moves forwardly against the ground warps G to defiect the same forwardly and thereby pull back the ground warps and pile fabric 31.

In so doing, reverse or counterclockwise rotation is imparted to take-up roll 150 and ratchet wheel 183 until pin 197 engages the trailing end of slot 196 in take-up gear 172. At the same time, the deflection of the ground warps out of their normal path by the fell shifting bar 122 tends to impart upward movement to dancing rolls 110, 111. However, dancing rolls 110, 111 have weights 214 associated therewith permitting only a very limited upward movement thereof and ensuring that the desired amount of reverse motion is imparted to ground warps G and fabric 31. If ground warps G are being subjected to the desired amount of tension by tensioning devices 102, 103, dancing rolls 110, 111 move only slightly, if at all, during the abnormal forward or upward motion and the retraction or reverse motion of ground warps G and fabric 31.

It will be observed in FIGS. 9 and 10 that weights 214 are suspended from inverted substantially L-shaped cranks 205, 206 fixed on corresponding ends of rocker shafts 114, 115. As fell shifting cam (FIGS. 9, 10 and 16) starts to impart rearward movement to fell shifting bar 122 (right to left in FIGS. 9, 10 and 16), it is apparent that this may permit dancing rolls 110, 111 to move downwardly in engagement with the corresponding sheets of ground warps G while permitting the normal take-up of the fabric 31 and ground warps G by take-up roll 150 in the manner heretofore described.

As bar 122 moves rearwardly and take-up roll 150 is advanced abnormally, weights 214 (FIG. 10) still cause dancing rolls 110, 111 to maintain ground warps G under tension against the rearwardly moving bar 122. If there is an insufficient length of ground warps G between danc- 13 ing rolls 110, 111 and the fell to accommodate the length of fabric being advanced abnormally by take-up roll 150, dancing rolls 110, 111 can move upwardly by virtue of the tension in the warps G, it being understood that tensioning devices 102, 103 then will continue to maintain ground warps G under normal tension.

(VI) TUFT DIVERTER OR TUCK WIRE As described earlier, tuck wire 38 moves through a somewhat rectilinear path, as shown in FIG. 2, during each tuft-forming cycle and serves to hold the last-formed row of tufts T out of the way of the grippers and the corresponding pile yarns during formation of a corresponding weftwise row of tufts. Accordingly, as best shown in FIGS. 9, 10, 12 and 19, means are provided for imparting forward and rearward, as well as upward and downward, movement to tuck wire 38. The tuck wire operating mechanism comprises a pair of cams 220, 221 fixed on main drive shaft 50 and spaced outwardly of loom sideframe member 46. Cams 220, 221 engage respective cam followers 222, 223 on follower arms 224, 225 whose rear ends are also pivotally supported on shaft 140 (FIGS. and 12).

Upstanding links 226, 227 connect front portions of follower arms 224, 225 to the rear portions of respective cranks 230, 231 thereabove (FIGS. ll, 12 and 19). Crank 230 is fixed on a tubular shaft 232 suitably journaled on and extending through loom sideframe member 46. Crank 231 is fixed on a shaft 233 journaled in and extending through tubular shaft 232. The inner ends of shafts 232, 233 have respective forwardly extending cranks 234, 235 fixed thereon to which the upper ends of respective links 236, 237 are pivotally connected (FIG. 19).

A crank 240 connects the lower portion of link 236 to a tuck wire rocker shaft 241 suitably journaled on loom sideframe members 46, 47. It is apparent that cam 220 imparts a complete oscillation to tuck wire rocker shaft 241 during each pick of the loom. Shaft 241 has a longitudinally spaced pair of downwardly extending cranks 242 fixed thereon, to the lower ends of which the front ends of a pair of tuck Wire support arms 243 are pivotally connected. The rear ends of arms 243 extend upwardly at an angle and have opposite ends of tuck wire 38 secured thereto.

A bridging member 244 extends between and interconnects arms 243 to lend rigidity thereto. The lower end of link 237 is pivotally connected to a medial portion of one of the arms 243. It is thus seen that cam 221 imparts vertical reciprocatory motion to arms 243 and tuck wire 38 while cam 220 imparts forward and rearward movement to the arms 243 and tuck wire 38 by virtue of the oscillation imparted to tuck wire rocker shaft 241.

(VII) GRIPPER SUPPORTING AND OPERATING MECHANISM Grippers 35 are constructed, opened and closed, in a manner well known in the art, with the important exception that, during operation of the loom, the free ends of the jaws 35a, 35b always face toward the pile yarn selectors 36, the grippers always are partially positioned in the dents of reeds 24 and between adjacent ground warps in the shed, and the grippers have a short stroke of action; about the same as each pile yarn length or section of which the respective tufts are to be formed, as heretofore described.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 3-6, 13, 20 and 21, the fixed jaws 35a of all the grippers 35 are suitably secured to and extend upwardly from a common gripper support bar 250 whose opposite ends terminate in substantial spaced relation from sideframe members 45, 46. Bar 250 is secured to a plurality of spaced gripper brackets 251 in which a common gripper operating shaft 252 is oscillatably mounted and whose opposite ends also terminate in spaced relationship inwardly from sideframe members 45, 46. Brackets 251 are suitably secured to a gripper oscillating shaft 253 which is positioned on the opposite side of the path of ground warps G from that of the reed rocker shaft 64. Gripper shaft 253 serves as a fixed axis about which grippers 35 move in an arcuate path. As shown, gripper shaft 253 is positioned below shaft 252 and has opposite end portions thereof suitably journaled on sideframe members 45, 46.

For swinging grippers 35 toward and away from selectors 36 in alternation, during which grippers 35 move in an arcuate path of no more than about ten to fifteen degrees, it will be observed in FIGS. 9, l0 and 20 that one end of gripper oscillating shaft 253 has a crank 254 fixed thereon to which the upper end of a link 255 is pivotally and adjustably connected. As shown, crank 254 is positioned outwardly of loom sideframe member 46, and the lower end of link 255 is pivotally and adjustably connected to one end of a follower lever 256. A medial portion of lever 256 is pivotally mounted, as at 257, on sideframe member 46, and the rear end portion of follower lever 265 has a follower 260 thereon which engages a gripper rocking cam 261 fixed on main drive shaft 50. Gripper operating shaft 252 is provided with an upwardly or radially projecting rib 263 (FIGS. 1 and 3-6) which engages the bifurcated lower ends of movable jaws 35b.

Thus, angular motion of gripper operating shaft 252 in a clockwise direction in FIGS. 1, 36, 13, 20 and 21 moves the movable jaws 35b of all the grippers 35 to open position relative to fixed jaws 35a. Conversely, angular motion of gripper operating shaft 252 in a clockwise direction in the latter figures moves the movable jaws 35b of all the grippers 35 to closed position relative to fixed jaws 35a. Conventionally, gripper assemblies are equipped with a toggle or latching mechanism for locking the grippers in the respective opened and closed positions whenever they are moved to such positions. Accordingly, only the mechanism (FIG. 21) will be described for shifting the movable jaws 35b between opened and closed positions and, since the mechanism for maintaining the movable jaws in the positions to which they are last moved is conventional, an illustration and description thereof is deemed to be unnecessary.

Referring to FIGS. 12 and 21, a pair of rotary cam discs 264 and 264a are mounted on shaft 50, each disc having a lobe 265, 266 thereon, respectively, which are quite short or abrupt and are alternately engaged by followers 267 on a respective pair of follower bell cranks 270, 271. The lower portions of bell cranks 271, 270 are pivotally mounted, as at 272, on the loom frame 47. The upper portions of bell cranks 270, 271 are normally urged rearwardly away from grippers 35 by respective springs 273, 274, and have the rear portions of respective thrust rods 275, 276 pivotally connected thereto whose other ends are positioned in alignment with respective radially projecting portions 277, 278 of a hub 281 loosely mounted on gripper shaft 253. Hub 281 is operatively connected to gripper operating shaft 252 by means, not shown, but being well known in the art, so as to transmit clockwise angular motion to gripper operating shaft 252 in FIG. 21 when thrust rod 275 is moved momentarily from left to right in FIG. 21 and impinges against pro jection 277 to impart counterclockwise angular motion to hub 281 and thereby open grippers 35. Conversely, upon thrust rod 276 being moved momentarily from left to right in FIG. 21 by lobe 266, thrust rod 276 strikes and imparts clockwise movement to projection 278 and hub 281, thus imparting a counterclockwise angular motion to gripper operating shaft 252 to close grippers 35. It is apparent that the lobes 265, 266 (FIG. 21) are positioned in close angular relationship so that grippers 35 are opened as they move rearwardly (from left to right in FIGS. 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6) at the desired instant; e.g., when their free ends have reached a point about half-way between nose bar 25 and selectors 36 (FIG. 5). Also, immediately upon reaching and entering selectors 36 (FIG. 6), grippers 35 are closed on the pile yarns P (FIG.

l) and remain closed during about the next nine-tenths of an oscillation thereof (FIGS. 3 and 4).

(VIII) CUTTING DEVICE As described earlier, cutting device 37 comprises relatively movable members 85, 86 (FIGS. 1 and 36) which move upwardly and downwardly unitarily during each tuft-forming cycle. While members 85, 86 occupy uppermost or active position as shown in FIG. 3, movable member 86 moves weftwise relative to fixed member 85 to sever the pile yarns immediately in front of selectors 36 following each active or forward stroke of grippers 35. The fixed member 85 of cutting device 37 is in the form of an elongate plate whose upper edge is serrated to provide saw-toothed projections 300 and whose valleys are adapted to receive therein the respective pile yarns P in the then active weftwise row as fixed member 85 is moved upwardly to active position. The serrations 300 maintain pile yarns P in proper spaced relationship during the severing of the same by a plurality of spaced knives or cutting blades 301 carried by and projecting upwardly from movable member 86 (FIGS. 15 and 22).

It should be noted that a plurality of the cutting blades 301 (FIG. 15) are provided spaced weftwise along movable member 86 so that only a relatively short stroke of movable member 86 is required for severing all the pile yarns in the corresponding selected row, thus further enabling relatively high speed operation of the loom.

Opposed ends of fixed member 85 of cutting device 37 are provided with rearwardly projecting bosses 305 (FIG. 15) which are slidably penetrated by the lower portions of respective upstanding guide posts 306 spaced outwardly from opposite side edges of the fabric 31 being woven. Upper portions of guide posts 306 are secured in suitable guide blocks 307 which are secured, for forward and rearward adjustment, to brackets 303. Brackets 308 extend forwardly and are suitably secured to sideframe members 45, 46.

In order to raise and lower cutting device 37 between respective active and inactive positions and relative to grippers 35 and selectors 36, the bosses 305 on opposite ends of fixed member 85 have the upper ends of respective links 310 pivotally connected thereto (FIG. 15). The lower ends of links 310 are pivotally connected to respective cranks 311 which extend forwardly and are fixed on a pivot shaft 312 (FIGS. 11 and 15) pivotally supported in suitable bearings 313 carried by and disposed inwardly of sideframe members 45, 46.

A crank 314 is fixed on and extends forwardly from pivot shaft 312. The front end of crank 314 is connected, by a link 315, to the front portion of a follower arm 316 therebelow. Follower arm 316 is pivotally mounted, as at 317, on a post 320 suitably secured to the floor F. Follower arm 316 extends rearwardly from pivot point 317 and has a follower 321 thereon (FIG. 15) which engages a rotary cam 322 fixed on main drive shaft 50. It is apparent that, when the low surface of cam 322 moves into engagement with follower 321 in FIG. 15, follower 316 moves in a clockwise direction to impart corresponding movement to cranks 311, 314 and pivot shaft 312, thus moving cutting device 37 from the lowered position shown in FIGS. 1, 4, 5 and 6 to the raised or active position shown in FIG. 3.

While cutting device 37 occupies the latter position, a weftwise reciprocatory motion is imparted to movable member 86 through intervening connections between movable member 86 and a rotary cam 325 (FIGS. 9, 10, 12 and 17) fixed on the outer end of cam shaft 51. Since cam shaft 51 and cam 325 rotate one-half a revolution during each pick of the loom, cam 325 has a symmetrical construction, as shown in FIG. 13. The connections between cam 325 and the movable member 86 of cutting device 37 include a cam follower 326 engaging cam 325 and carried by a lever 327. One end of lever 327 is pivotally connected, as at 330, to a fixed part of the loom frame. The other or forward end of lever 327 is connected to the lower end of a link 331. The upper end of link 331 is pivotally connected to one arm of a bell crank 332 pivotally mounted, as at 333, on the outer portion of loom sideframe member 46. The other arm of bell crank 332 has one end of a connecting rod 334 pivotally connected thereto which extends inwardly through sideframe member 46 and is connected at it other end to the lower portion of movable member of cutting device 37 (FIGS. 12 and 22).

It is apparent that each high surface of cam 325 is so located as to engage follower 326 and to impart successive active and inactive strokes to movable member 85 and its cutting blades 301 each time grippers 35 reach their frontmost or retracted position as shown in FIG. 3 in a pile yarn inserting stroke of the grippers. Preferably, weft needle 26 also inserts a shot of weft yarn in the ground warp shed at about the same time that an active and then an inactive stroke are imparted to movable member 85 causing cutting blades 301 to sever pile yarns P.

Also, suitable conventional means may be provided operating in conjunction with weft needle 26 for forming loops L (FIG. 7) in the weft yarn at opposite selvages of the fabric 31 being woven, as is well known in the art.

(IX) CONCLUSION From the foregoing description, it can be appreciated that the loom is provided with mechanisms for causing the weaving instrumentalities (reed 24, weft needle 26 and heddles 27), grippers 35, pile yarn selectors 36, cutting device 37 and tuft diverter or tuck needle 38 to function in the manner described in Chapter II of this context, with particular reference to FIGS. l-8. Accordingly, a further detailed description of the method of operation of such mechanisms is deemed unnecessary.

In order to form tufts of increased or reduced length, pile yarn selectors 36 may be adjusted away from or toward nose bar 25 by means of brackets 87 (FIG. 13) as described in Chapter IV, cutting device 37 may be adjusted correspondingly by adjusting guide blocks 307 (FIG. 15) away from or toward breast bar 70, and the length of stroke of grippers 35 may be correspondingly altered by appropriate modification of cam 261 (FIG. 20). Adjustment of lobes 265, 266 on cam discs 264, 264a also may be desirable if both legs of each tuft are not to be of the same length.

As stated in the introductory portion of the specification and in Chapter I, the weaving instrumentalities and associated tuft-forming elements are arranged so that the fabric proceeds from the fell and nose bar 25 in a generally vertical direction. This is desirable so that selectors 36 may extend longitudinally in a substantially vertical plane, whereby the weaving instrumentalities are readily accessible to the operator of the loom from both the front and rear sides of nose bar 25, and the selectors 36 may be readily moved out of the way of the operator for setting up the loom or performing any corrective work which may be required from time to time.

It is contemplated that the positions of the reed 24, nose bar 25, heedles 27, grippers 35, cutting device 37 and tuck wire 38 may be transposed or reversed in the vertical direction in FIG. 1, so the fabric 31 would then proceed downwardly (instead of upwardly) from nose bar 25, without sacrificing the aforementioned advantages as to accessibility of the weaving instrumentalities to an operator. With such an arrangement it is apparent that the reed 24 would move downwardly and rearwardly during each beat-up stroke thereof; the gripper shafts 252, 253 would be located above grippers 35; nose bar 25 would be located below grippers 35; and cutting device 37 would be spaced above nose bar 25.

Furthermore, it can be appreciated that the parts shown in FIG. 1 may be arranged so that the lay 66 and grippers 35 are either above or below selectors 36 and such 

